Supporting Philatelists Since 1952
Philatelic history of Korea
This is a collection of date stamps used in Japanese Offices in Korea from 1876 to 1888. During this period the first type of CDS, “double-circle date stamps”, was used at Busan (or “Fusan” in Japanese), Wonsan (or “Gensan”), and Incheon (or “Ninsen”). The Japanese-language version of this exhibit was shown at JAPEX 2019 and […]
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Mr. Horace Grant Underwood (July 19, 1859 – Oct. 12, 1916) was the first Presbyterian missionary for the Korean mission from the Presbyterian church U. S. A.. In Korea he is well known as just “Missionary Underwood”, and his Korean name is “Won Doo-Woo” (원 두우; 元 杜尤). Mr. Underwood was born July 19, 1859, […]
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Our past Chairman and Publisher of the Korea Stamp Society (KSS), Ivo Spanjersberg, has long urged that he and I write an article about the Korean Relief Inc. organization and its related Korean philatelic items. Various items of postal history, including postal stationery, aerogrammes, Christmas seals and labels, and other related merchandize, are frequently seen […]
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In the period from 1953-1960, four issues of stamps, dedicated to the International Women’s Day (8 March) were issued in North Korea (this day is mainly celebrated in the territory of the former USSR, and some countries of Asia and Africa). Since 2019 this holiday has been a regional holiday in Berlin, Germany.
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It is well-known that the People Republic of China (PRC) rewrites its history as it deems politically correct. The same goes for pictures showing the history of China. Since you haven’t seen everything yourself, you seldom notice it, of course. But here we have two stamp images that are supposed to show the same thing, […]
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In early 2019 I wrote an article for the KSS about “unissued” DPRK stamps. This showed that, in addition to the regular issued stamps, there were (and are still) many “disappeared” or “re-appeared” stamps in DPRK’s philatelic history. This short refresher article gives a bit more information as to why these stamps were treated the […]
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(On the relationship Between Chosŏn and Russia) On October 8, 1895, Queen Myung-Sung was assassinated by the Japanese force. King Go-Jong, who was also confined at the palace Kyung-Bok, fearing for his life, wanted to escape. On November 28, 1895, the King’s first try to flee to the legation of the United States failed because […]
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The Korea Stamp Corporation, the stamp issuing organization of the DPRK (North Korea), generally creates stamp along several lines of themes. One of those common themes is something along the lines of “the eternal fight for the motherland against our enemies”. The thing is: the official feelings towards these enemies, whomever they may be (usually […]
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Last year this cover was for sale on Ebay. I didn’t buy it, but was intrigued by it. The original reason to be interested was because of the seal on the back. This turned out to be an American anti-polio Easter seal, which just like the Korean anti-tuberculosis Christmas seals were sold to raise money […]
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Recently I found these the two postcards shown in the image advertised in packs of North Korean (DPRK) postcards on Delcampe, including one pack from a dealer in China. I do not really know what they are or what they represent. I only bought them because they featured the Chollima.
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Charles Aleveque (known in Korea as An Ryebaek, -晏禮百) made and distributed the first photographic postcards in Korea, published a French-Korean dictionary, and represented the Korean Government at the 1900 Paris Exposition. As a representative for a French trading company, he worked for trade between Korea and France, importing modern materials for the government of […]
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Recently when I was searching on the net for Japanese Occupation of Korea covers, I found a cover that was very interesting to me. I did a search for the sender’s name and discovered that this might be a cover with that contained a letter from New-Ilhan. His original name was Ilhyeong New.
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Following the opening of Korea’s ports to international commerce in the 1880s, the Government recognized the importance of developing modern methods of mining. On September 4, 1900, the ‘Governmental Mining School’ to promote industrial education was established. The officials of the school were to be the principal, a superintendent, four trainers, an assistant trainer, and […]
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In an issue of the KSS Newsletter, there was a photocopy of part of the membership list of the Korea Philatelic Society. It is interesting to note that two non-Koreans are listed as members, both missionaries. One is KSS member Dr. Lyman Hale (1922 – 2019), a physician at Severance Hospital, Seoul and a member […]
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Recently I purchased on eBay, what is most likely a philatelic cover that was a curiosity to me. It was a cover addressed to a fairly famous US naval officer, Read Admiral Jeraud Wright, dated December 12, 1945. (See images of front and back cover) I was not aware that covers had been made with […]
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Most stamp dealers have a specialization, some field of (philatelic) interest which make them stand apart from other dealers. But there are few stamp dealers like Willem van der Bijl, whose small shop in the historic city center of Utrecht in the Netherlands belies the importance of his collection of North Korean materials, both philatelic […]
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The months of July and August 1950 were very difficult months for Seoul. The North had taken over the city very early on in the Korean War and the situation was, to put it mildly “hard”. Atrocities were being committed on a large scale and the ordinary life of the city had basically come to […]
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One thing leads to another, and before you know it, yet more information comes your way. We have seen this happening time and again in the Korea Stamp Society these last few years. In this particular case: when Willem van der Bijl showed us scans of his collection of DPRK stamp artworks (see KP Vol. […]
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Outside the USSR, after 1946 field post correspondence was only used by Soviet troops in occupied territories (e.g., Korea, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, etc.). Registered letters sent through field post offices after 1946 are extremely rare and normally have NO censor mark. Moreover, no international letters sent with Field Post cancellations from the Russian army […]
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One of our readers, Jordan, sent scans of four complete sheets of North Korean stamps asking what we know about these particular stamps. The first thing to do when answering such questions is to look through either the “Korean Stamp Catalogue 1946-2015” (if the stamps were issued before December 2015) or on the Korea Stamp […]
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